


Promises, Promises

by Ambular-D (AmberDiceless)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-11
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-06-26 16:30:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19772080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmberDiceless/pseuds/Ambular-D





	Promises, Promises

“Castiel, can I ask you something?”

“Of course. Anything.” He smiled slightly. There were a handful of humans to whom Cas wouldn’t refuse anything it was in his power to give. Claire Novak was one of them.

She shifted a little uncomfortably, but her bright, penetrating eyes never left his face. “Why did my dad say yes? Do you know?”

The angel went still for a long moment. When he spoke again, it was slowly, not looking at the girl. “Well, because I asked him, obviously.” He sighed, turning to fiddle pointlessly with whatever was sitting on the nearest surface. “I told him that he was special, and that he was needed in the coming war. Both of which were true, for what it’s worth.” A somber half-smile crossed his face at the memory. “He was a devout man...I don’t think he ever really doubted I was what I claimed to be. But your mother...she didn’t believe him when he told her he’d spoken with an angel, even in the face of miracles. She threatened to leave him if he wouldn’t submit to psychiatric care.”

“She did?” Whatever had prompted Claire to ask her question, her slightly aghast expression told him she hadn’t expected to hear that, and Cas felt a fresh stab of guilt at not keeping that particular detail to himself.

Nevertheless, it was out now, so he carried on, hoping that somewhere in the story Claire would find whatever it was she _had_ been looking for. “Yes. I think Jimmy may have felt he needed to prove to her that he hadn’t lost his mind. Or, to prove it to himself, maybe. And I know he wanted to help--to do what was right. To live his faith, not just profess it. So he said he’d do it--on one condition...”

He stopped, swallowing hard. What followed, in his own estimation, was one of the worst...well, not lies, but certainly one of the biggest and most tragic _miscalculations_ he’d ever made, and that was saying something. But he couldn’t deny Claire that truth even if it meant she’d hate him all over again.

Before he could go on, though, she headed him off and finished the tale herself. “That you promised you’d protect us. My mom and me.”

Castiel glanced up at her, his blue eyes shadowed with sorrow and regret. “Yes.”

Claire smiled tightly, dropping her own gaze. “Yeah. I, ah. I thought it was probably something like that. It’s okay. I didn’t used to understand, but I do now.”

She bit her lip. “It’s easy to make a promise like that, isn’t it? You say it, and you totally mean it.” She shook her head. “You wouldn’t lie about something like that in a million years. But then, things don’t go the way you expect. Stuff happens so fast, and it all gets out of control...and...”

Cas turned to face her fully, leaning back against the counter behind him. “And you learn that making promises and keeping them are two entirely different things,” he finished softly. “It’s not your fault, what happened to Kaia, Claire.”

“I know.” She looked up at him again, nodding resolutely and wiping her eyes with a small sniffle. “And what happened before--that wasn’t your fault, either. I just wanted you to know that I get that now. And if my dad was here...I think he would, too.”


End file.
